JUNCACEAE Rush Family

1 The sheathing part of the leaf closed; leaf soft and flat, grass-like Luzula
1 The sheathing part of the leaf open; leaf when present stiff not much grass-like Juncus

 JUNCUS Rush

1 Plants annual J. bufonis
1 Plants perennial
2 Lowest bract terete and exactly like a continuation of the stem
3 Flowers normally more than 6; plants normally with creeping rootstalks; seeds not tailed J. arcticus
3 Flowers 1-3, rarely 4-5; plants lacking creeping rootstalks; seeds tailed J. parryi
2 Lowest bract not exactly like a continuation of the stem; inflorescence seemingly terminal
4 Leaf blades with crosswalls (feels like bumps when running fingers up the blade) these crosswalls either
complete or incomplete
5 Crosswalls complete, blade cylindrical, has no open edges above base
6 Perianth segments long acuminate; flowers in tight balls, flowers pointing in all directions J. torreyi
6 Perianth segments not or shortly acuminate; flowers ± erect
7 Inflorescence a single capitate head (2); anthers 0.5-1.0 mm long, shorter than the filaments J. mertensianus
7 Inflorescence normally with (2) 4-30 heads; anthers 1.0-2.0 mm long, longer than the filaments J. nevadensis
5 Crosswalls incomplete, blade flat with the edges open well above the base J. ensifolius
4 Leaf blade lacking crosswalls
8 Leaf blades 0.4-0.8 mm wide
9 Capsule distinctly retuse at the summit and fully 3-celled; auricles hyaline, acutish J. confusus
9 Capsule obtuse to truncate at the summit and only imperfectly 3-celled; auricles tough, rounded J. dudleyi
8 leaf blades 1.5-3 (4) mm wide; auricles rounded J. longistylis

Juncus arcticus Willd.
var. balticus (Willd.) Trautvetter
WIRE or ARCTIC RUSH. Frequent, below 8000 ft.; wet or dry places with some water below ground surface. The only difference between J. balticus and J. arcticus is the number of stamens which most likely is not enough difference to warrant species separation: *Strawberry Creek T14N R69E S20, Baker Creek T13N R69E S14, †Baker Creek 738 822 43 18 448, Chalk Spring 738190E 435800N (NAD 83). [J. balticus Willd., J. mexicanus Willd.]
Juncus bufonis L.
COMMON TOAD RUSH. Infrequent, below 6800 ft.; margins of streams, vernally moist flats, outflows of springs. *The Cedars T12N R67E S2, !Burnt Mill Canyon T13N R69E S6.
Juncus confusus Cov.
COLORADO RUSH. Infrequent, below 10000 ft. meadows along streams, mesic woods. *Lehman Creek T13N R68E S11, !Burnt Mill Canyon T13N R69E S6, Wheeler Peak Trail 732 416 43 21 386.
Juncus dudleyi Wieg.
DUDLEY’S RUSH. Below 7,500 ft.; wet places. This taxon has been submersed under J. tenuis by some and others have made it a variety. June. *The Cedars T12N R67E S2.
Juncus ensifolius A. Nels.

a Heads few flowered, not in a tight ball var. brunnescens
a Heads numerous flowered, in a tight ball var. montanus

var. brunnescens (Rydb.) Cronq.
SMALL-HEADED ROCKY MOUNTAIN RUSH. Frequent. below 10,000 ft.; meadows, along streams and other wet places. This group of plants have been played with over a number of years by a number of different workers. They have been shuffled between several species and or varieties of the several species.. Each place they have been put is defensible to some extent. However some of the characters used to separate them sometimes show up on the same plant. Yet the two varieties represented in the area of this treatment seem to keep their separate identity quite well. July-Sept. *Baker Creek 11 07 38 212E 43 17 425N, !Baker Creek T13N R69E S29 Clifton 11781. [J. saximontanus A. Nels. in part].
var. montanus (Engelm.) C. L. Hitchc.
LARGE HEADED ROCKY MOUNTAIN RUSH. Frequent, below 9000 ft.; meadows, along streams and other wet places. July-Sept. *Baker Creek 739184E 4318776N, !Lehman Creek T13N R69E S8 Clifton 11710. [Juncus saximontanus A. Nels. in part].
Juncus longistylis Torr
LONG-STYLED RUSH. Frequent, 6000-9000 ft.; along creeks, wet meadows, and springs. *Baker Creek 11 07 38 212E 43 17 424N, !Burnt Mill Canyon T13N R69E S6, The Cedars 723 706 43 12 544 Clifton 45638.
Juncus mertensianus Bong.
MERTENS' RUSH. Fairly frequent, 8000-11000 ft.; wet meadows, along streams. *Lehman Creek T13N R68E S11, !Wheeler Peak Road T13N R69E S6,† Bald Mountain 733 211 43 22 300.
Juncus nevadensis S. Wats.
NEVADA or SIERRA RUSH. Frequent, below 10200 ft.; along streams, wet meadows and springs. Most of the plants in the area of this treatment are the green phase. The blue-glaucus phase is found to the west. *The Cedars T12N R67E S2, !Baker Creek T13N R69E S14 Clifton 11381, †Lehman Creek 739412E 4321906N Clifton 43036.
Juncus parryi Engelm.
PARRY'S RUSH. Infrequent, 10000-11200 ft.; open rocky slopes. *above Johnson Lake T13N R68E S36, North Fork Baker Creek 34 756E 17 497N, †South of Johnson Lake 733 933E 43 12 625N.
Juncus torreyi Cov.
TORREY’S RUSH. Fairly frequent, below 6600 ft.; along streams, roadside ditches, seeps, these sometimes associated alkali. * Big Springs Creek T10N R70E S1, *Hamlin Valley T10N R70E S1, The Cedars T12N R67E S2, !Willow Patch Spring T15N R68E S36.

LUZULA Wood Rush

1 Inflorescence an open panicle L. parviflora
1 Inflorescence a congested spike L. spicata

Luzula parviflora (Ehrh.) Desv.
SMALL-FLOWERED WOOD RUSH. Infrequent, 6000-10000 ft.; wet margins of streams. *Baker Creek T13N R69E S21, !Lehman Creek T13N R68E S11, †Baker Creek 11 0734 400E 43 15 450N Clifton 41003.
Luzula spicata (L.) DC.
SPIKED WOOD RUSH. Frequent, 10000-11500 ft. alpine turf, rocky slopes. There are plants that have some of the leaves broad and flat, the perianth segments light brown and the bracts not very fimbriate. These may represent an undescribed variety. *Stella Lake T13N R68E S11, !Pyramid Peak 11 07 33 594E 43 14786N, †Baker Lake 10 0732 780E 43 15 200N Clifton 40981.